West Yorks fundraiser and community champion dies

A charity fundraiser and community champion from West Yorkshire has died. Kamal Aftab was diagnosed with Leukaemia earlier this year and was aiming to raise £50,000 for charityfrom his hospital room during his treatment. He passed away late afternoon of Friday.

Cancer, Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in my case, has only deepened my love of volunteering and only heightened my realisation of how important charity is. So I’m challenging myself to complete a very special marathon for charity during my chemotherapy treatment: a marathon while confined to my five square-metre room, armed only with a pedometer and a smile.

And so I’m asking you to sponsor my ‘Hospital Marathon’. Help me to raise £50K for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research (LLR). You can help advance the research for a cure, help those suffering from Leukaemia and support their loved ones.”

The 32-year-old from Huddersfield was a regional youth leader and mentor for Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Associations (AMYA) – a charity that seeks to teach young people life skills by engaging them in community and charitable initiatives. He had raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity.Friends, relatives and colleagues have been paying tribute to Kamal who has been described as a ‘true humanitarian’ who was voted The Guardian newspaper’s ‘2014 Volunteer of the Year’.